Strive Masiyiwa, a major telecom magnate and billionaire in Zimbabwe has lost billions of dollars of net worth over the last four months as a result of the prolonged decline in shares of his Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed firms and the weakening of the Zimbabwean currency.
Masiyiwa, the richest person in Zimbabwe, has had his net worth decline by $3.1 billion in less than four months, from $4.4 billion on May 1 to $1.3 billion according to Forbes. He is the only African billionaire to have lost more than $3 billion in recent years.
The $3.1 billion decline in his net worth may be linked to the performance of his investments in Econet and Ecocash, aside from the devaluation of the Zimbabwean currency, which significantly affected his fortune.
This is not the first time though. Back in 2015, Strive Masiyiwa was among the 7 members from 2014 who failed to make it to the Forbes list of Africa’s 50 Richest due to similar reasons
Strive Masiyiwa's other holdings include shares in Lesotho and Burundi mobile phone networks, as well as interests in African fintech and power distribution companies.